Ritsu's Spirit Animal
by pineappurus
Summary: Set in their winter break, 3rd year. Ritsu has a problem but she makes an effort to not show it. Only Mio notices the slight change. Outside forces interfere and keep Ritsu from harming herself and making the wrong decisions. Crazy things happen. Mitsu.


**AN:** Hellooo, everyone~ I'm back! And before you all tell me that I took longer than I promised, I actually didn't. I've been writing this since three days after I uploaded the last chapter of TLTB. :P This was supposed to be crack-y. I hope the parts that are supposed to be funny does make you laugh or at least smile. This was inspired by a 4koma doujinshi I couldn't stop reading over and over again. I'm sure many of you are familiar with that but I won't reveal the title for those who aren't so that you won't be spoiled.

Devon, as always, you inspire me. Thank you for talking to me and motivating me!

Hephaestus, sooo looking forward to October. ;D

Alex and Musician74, I would get a BETA but there isn't anyone that I know and I'm not sure if I'm comfortable with just asking a random one here on the site. :| Do you happen to have anyone in mind that you can recommend? Better yet, will one of you become my BETA? :D

**Disclaimer**: I do not own K-ON. If I did, it would have too many mature themes. Lol jkjk. :P

**Word Count**: 19,651 word(s) but don't let it scare you. It's a quick read!  
**Pairing(s)**: Mitsu all the way. Lots of YuiAzu interaction, but no mention of them being a couple.  
**POV**: Third person  
**Summary: **Set in the winter break of their 3rd year. Ritsu has a problem but she makes an effort to not show it. Only Mio notices the slight change. Outside forces interfere and keep Ritsu from harming herself and making the wrong decisions.

* * *

**Ritsu's Spirit Animal**

* * *

Tainaka Ritsu hid a huge yawn behind her hand. The seasons have started to change, the autumn months just ended and the winter months began. Today, the wind was noticeably cooler, and with the comfort brought by the classrooms heater, figuring out why most students fall asleep in their classes is no brain-teaser. It really doesn't help when your teacher's voice is monotonous and low, like he was made to stand in front just to bore and lull the students to sleep and that today was the last day before winter break started.

It was the last period before lunch break and Ritsu cursed her homeroom adviser, Yamanaka Sawako or Sawa-chan to the Light Music Club, for assigning her a seat that's really close to the front of the classroom. Sitting here up front, there is absolutely no way for her to sleep and get away with it. So Ritsu kept herself busy by quietly drumming her pen on the back of her left hand or pinching her thighs under her desk to wake her up. But it seemed that sleep is more powerful than Ritsu thought, and she started to nod off. When she was about to raise a white flag in her head to show her surrender to unconsciousness, she felt something smack her head and then felt that something tumbled to the floor.

Her eyelids snapped open and she heard a small thud to her right. The something that hit her was an eraser and it was pink. She bent down to pick it up and saw a familiar scrawl on one of its sides.

_Baka! Don't fall asleep!_

A few rows behind Ritsu, sat her always responsible best friend and long time crush, Akiyama Mio. Mio could feel the tendrils of sleep at the edge of her consciousness trying to pull her in, but of course, being the exemplary student that she is, Mio fought it. Just when she was about to declare victory over sleep, she saw her best friend's head bob once then a second time before she realized that the idiot was falling asleep. She acted quickly; rummaged through her pencil case for the biggest eraser she had and wrote something on one of the widest sides. The images of what happened the last time that idiot got caught sleeping in this class flashed in her mind's eye all the while.

Ritsu fell asleep once before, a year ago; in a different class but it was the same teacher. Mio was not at all pleased with what happened; in fact she was angered by the whole thing. She saw little snapshots of the incident fly by. The teacher saw Ritsu asleep, head resting on her arms which were crossed over the desk. The teacher towered over the sleeping girl and called Ritsu's name loudly to wake her. Ritsu shot up in surprise. The teacher scowled and proceeded to lecture Ritsu about falling asleep in class. He ended the lecture by saying that, of all the girls in the classroom, Ritsu had the least right to doze off in class because she wasn't the sharpest tool in the box. The strong implication of Ritsu being a lazy and over-confident idiot wasn't missed by a single student in the class and Mio saw that her best friend was red from the humiliation. She also didn't miss the wetness at the corner of Ritsu's eyes even with her best friend's head bowed down.

Mio was angry. Nobody calls Ritsu a lazy idiot to her face but her. Only she had the right to do that. Besides that, Mio knew that her best friend was far from idiotic. She knew that Ritsu was actually really smart. Her best friend just had an annoyingly short attention span and thus had a hard time focusing on things. So, Mio swore from that day on that she would never let Ritsu's ego take a beating from anyone else. She made more effort to keep Ritsu in line and to help her with her studies since that incident.

As Ritsu turned the pink eraser over in her hands, she also thought back to the same incident but in a different light. Sometimes she thought that her teacher was right. No matter how confident she may appear, she still experienced insecurity now and then.

The class that cold day ended without much event. Ritsu kept herself awake the whole time by trying to come up with new drum techniques and daydreaming about random stuff, but she often found her thoughts drifting to her best friend. Lately, her feelings have been bothering her and she thinks that they've grown stronger. Being in the same room with Mio was suddenly an arduous task and Ritsu struggled to keep herself composed.

Mio kept herself awake by making sure her best friend was awake. The teacher gave them homework and the bell rang.

The two best friends gathered their lunches and met their two other bandmates/classmates Hirasawa Yui and Kotobuki Tsumugi who were already waiting outside their shared classroom. All four agreed to eat at the Music room today for a change, and then proceed to the library for the homework their last teacher just gave.

On the way to the music room Mio turned to Ritsu.

"Ritsu, what will your research paper be about?" Mio raised an eyebrow and waited for her best friend's response.

"Huh?" Ritsu's face told Mio that the girl was absolutely clueless. "Research paper?"

"Weren't you listening earlier?" Mio's voice grew loud and the other students in the hall turned to look at her. She turned red for a moment but then she slapped a palm to her forehead when she saw Ritsu's 'you-know-the-answer-to-that-already' grin that told her that of course, Ritsu didn't listen. "We each have to do a research on a Japanese mythological character. Remember? It's the whole reason for going to the library after lunch and before practice later!"

"Oh, right." Ritsu was in thought for a moment as she went over all the easy topics in her head.

"I might choose one of the first deities from _Kamiyonanayo _or Seven Generations of The Age of The Gods_._" Just then, Mugi piped up and shared her two cents.

"Oh! That's a good idea! As expected of Mugi-chan!" Yui put a hand on Mugi's shoulder and the two girls smiled at each other.

"Ah!" Yui then brightened and put her index finger up in the air as one of her rare genius ideas popped in her head. "I'll do a research on _Tajimamori_!"

"_Tajimamori?_" Ritsu raised a curious brow, along with everyone else, never having heard of whoever or whatever their airheaded friend was talking about.

"The god of Japanese sweets!" Yui wore her trademark happy expression on her face.

The four friends laughed. Of course, Yui would choose that.

* * *

All five members of Hōkago Tea Time were seated around a table in their school's library. They all decided to skip band practice that day and work together on their research. Yui invited her Azunyan along. Well, Yui being Yui, in fact dragged the poor junior with them. Said junior is now seated beside her airheaded senior and was being cuddled to death as Yui kept mumbling '_Azunyan~_' in a childish voice. It seemed that after more than a year of pushing away her senior's affections, Azusa realized that there was no stopping her senior from hugging her and just surrendered to her fate.

Mio flipped the pages of an old book on Shinto and its deities after scanning each page. Mugi was already jotting down notes from the reference book she had opened in front of her, the one she found on their earlier trip to the library after lunch, in her notebook. Ritsu closed the book she just finished scanning, sighed, and got up to get another. There were numerous characters but none captured her attention of interested her. Mio sent her best friend a glance, watching out for the other girl now her second nature.

Ritsu went to the small Folklore/Mythology section of the library. The books in this section occupied only a small shelf, since there weren't that many. Ritsu thought that she might just do her research online and browse through internet for the information she needed if she fails to find anything that interests her in any of the books here. Just then, she noticed a thin hardbound book that was obviously older than most, at the top shelf near the left corner. She moved to get the ladder and positioned it just under that spot. Ritsu climbed each step carefully, not wanting to fall on her behind and create a domino effect on the bookshelves and make the whole library a mess. She reached the top and pulled the book out with difficulty; it was wedged tightly between two large volumes of studies on the _Kojiki_ and the _Nihon Shoki— _the oldest accounts of Japanese history and Japanese legends.

Ritsu cracked the thin book open on a random page and years of dust billowed and the smell of old paper attacked her nose and tears formed at the corner of her eyes. She fanned it away from her with a hand and when the stinging in her eyes and nose stopped, she closed the book and carefully climbed down the ladder.

Ritsu caught the gaze of her best friend as she walked to their table and grinned at her. Mio watched Ritsu carefully, sending a small smile in return for her best friend's grin. Ritsu almost blushed then, but broke eye contact immediately after feeling the heat on her cheeks. Ritsu sat back in her seat, placed the book with its plain brown cover in front of her and opened the book to the first page.

"Wow, that's pretty old. Where'd you get that?" Mio, unaware of her best friend's efforts of keeping her true feelings a secret, was fascinated by the book her best friend brought back. It had an eerie feeling to it and it smelled.

"I found it between two huge-ass books on the _Kojiki_ and _Nihon Shoki_. Weird, right? Well, I thought it looked interesting." Ritsu answered without looking up, still hiding her blush. Mio went back to the book she was scanning.

The book turned out to be a collection of old illustrations and paintings of different types of _yōkai_ or monsters in Japanese folklore. The eras from where the illustrations came from were varied greatly, some even originating from the Edo period. Ritsu slowly turned each page and saw illustrations of different _onis_ or Japanese demons and _obake_ or _bake-mono_ (shape shifters) like _kitsunes_ (foxes), _tanukis_ (raccoon dogs), _bakenekos_ (cats), and _inugamis_ (dogs). Some illustrations were colored in, some were just outlines of ink and brush, but all were beautiful, all were captivating, and all sent shivers down her spine and made the hairs on the back of her neck and arms stand.

And when Ritsu reached the last page, she stopped breathing. There, on the last page, was an uncolored picture of an_ okami_ or wolf, except for its brilliant shining eyes. Her amber orbs met molten gold and they stared back at her. For some reason she couldn't explain, Ritsu couldn't turn away from those eyes; she felt like they were speaking to her. There was something powerful about the illustration, about how the artist chose to color in only the creature's eyes and how the artist chose such a striking hue. The eyes almost mirrored Ritsu's own amber. A jolt ran through her spine, her palms became clammy and she started sweating like she ran in a marathon, but she didn't move a single inch.

The other girls seemed to subconsciously sense the slight shift in the atmosphere and they looked at each other, searching for the source, until all turned to look at Ritsu. Ritsu still looked at the page and the illustration before her and seemed to both be staring at it and staring through it.

Mio noticed that her best friend was not moving and put a hand across the table and waved it in between Ritsu's face and the book. There was no response from her best friend.

"Hey, Ritsu!" Mio called, still waving her hand and waiting for a reaction.

That seemed to snap Ritsu out of whatever trance she was in. Ritsu looked up and turned to each of her friends who were looking at her. Mugi had concerned eyes but still wore a warm smile. Yui still had her arms wrapped around Azusa but her attention was on Ritsu. Azusa was still and her eyes watched Ritsu carefully. Finally, there was Mio in front of her with an 'is-there-something-wrong?' look on her face.

"Ah." An almost invisible pink hue spread on Ritsu's cheeks and she scratched the back of her head. "Sorry. The drawing was just really nice."

"Lemme see!" Yui let go of Azusa for the first time since she saw the girl and stood up. The airhead went behind Ritsu and took a peek at whatever her friend was looking at intently moments ago over the other girl's shoulder. Ritsu sensed Yui behind her and realized that her friend was going to try to look at the illustration of the _okami_ but a voice in her head told Ritsu that she couldn't let that happen. The voice told Ritsu that only she can see it, only she had the right to. Ritsu slammed the book shut just when Yui stopped behind her. This surprised all the other girls around the table.

"Ah, I think I'll be going home now." Ritsu started gathering all of her things, scooped up her notebooks into her bag and threw her pen in and her then her drumsticks. "I want to finish this research as soon as possible so I can just relax and do nothing after." Ritsu turned to her friends and tried to explain the very obvious and very sudden change in her behavior. Her bandmates/classmates didn't buy it though, especially her best friend whose brow was now creased and was studying her. Ritsu felt the weight of Mio's gaze and stood up abruptly.

Ritsu walked to the librarian behind the high desk and presented her library card to check the book out so she could bring it home. For some reason she couldn't explain, Ritsu felt really angry at the moment. She felt angry at Yui for wanting to look at the drawing, angry at everyone who was at the table and who was looking at her, angry at her best friend Mio especially, for always thinking that she knows her so well.

The shock wore off Mio when she saw Ritsu stop in front of the librarian. Mio realized that Ritsu really was going home. The concerned girl stood and gathered all of her belongings, not even bothering to put her notebooks in her bag. She looked up and saw her best friend already walking to the exit.

"Sorry guys," was the quickly muttered goodbye to the three girls who just watched and then Mio took off and ran after her best friend.

"Hey, Ritsu! Ritsu, wait!" Mio called out to her best friend. She was panting from the sudden physical exertion.

Ritsu stopped walking and glanced behind her. She waited for Mio to catch up to her before she continued walking.

There was little to no interaction during the whole walk home; if there were any, they were from Mio who tried to find out what was going on with Ritsu. Ritsu didn't answer and just walked quietly. After a while Mio figured that Ritsu wasn't going to say or do anything, she just quietly walked beside her best friend. They reached Ritsu's house and the girl turned to send Mio a quick 'see you later then' and moved to open the front door, not even waiting for her best friend's reply.

Mio stood outside the Tainaka residence for a while, still wondering what the hell just happened. When she realized that Ritsu wasn't going to come out and that she better just call the other girl later tonight, she went on her way home.

* * *

Mio sat in front of her laptop, her headphones playing random pop rock songs and was chewing some gum. She was just waiting for dinner and going over the events of the day in her head. She replayed her best friend's weird antics and tried to figure out whatever may have bothered her friend or caused such an abrupt shift in Ritsu's mood.

_Hmm… She was fine all day. She was fine until we went to the library, she was even laughing loudly with Yui… When we got to the library, she didn't want to do research and was feeling lazy, but that's just normal Ritsu... Wait, it wasn't until she got that weird book when…_

Mio picked up her phone and decided that she should call her best friend to check on her and ask her about the book. She slid the phone open, the screen lighting up, and was about to press key she assigned to Ritsu on speed dial when her phone rang and vibrated in her hands. Someone was calling her and the caller ID said '_Baka Ritsu_'. She pressed answer and put the phone to her ear.

"Hey, Ritsu, I was just about to—," she didn't get to finish her sentence because the voice on the other line cut her off. It wasn't Ritsu's but her brother, Satoshi, and he sounded panicky.

"Mio-san! It's onee-chan! Something's wrong, I don't know what to do!" Satoshi's words all tumbled out in one breath.

"Satoshi? What's wrong? Is Ritsu alright?" Mio's heart pounded loudly now. _What the hell happened? _The Tainaka siblings were very alike; both were laidback and not easily scared. _For Satoshi to be like this_, Mio thought_, it must be something really bad. Oh, Ritsu…_

Satoshi breathed. "Onee-chan's sick. I don't know what to do. She had a high fever when she got home and she said she's just sleep it off. She locked the door to her room and she was fine until I heard a loud thud from her room. I opened the door with the duplicate key we have and I found her writhing and thrashing on the floor. I don't know what to do! Mom and dad are out of town and their cell phones are unreachable! So I found her phone and called you. I can't carry her, Mio-san." Satoshi was rambling already but Mio listened closely and picked out the most important words. Onee-chan. _Sick. High fever. Writhing and thrashing. Mom and dad out of town. Unreachable._

Mio jumped out of her chair and pulled her headphones off on the first sentence. As Satoshi explained, she was already putting on socks, a coat, and a scarf. Her heartbeat grew louder and she felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. She was worried. She was scared. But more than all of that, she wanted to be beside Ritsu right now. She cursed the fact that they didn't live beside each other, although their houses were only minutes away. She called out to her mother and said that she'll just be at Ritsu's. Her mother, already used to impromptu sleepovers and already knowing the Tainaka girl pretty well, even to the point of adoration, gave her permission. Mio didn't even wait for that, though, she just ran out of the house after putting on her shoes, the phone still against her ear.

"Satoshi, I'm on my way there, just a minute away now. Is the front door open?" Mio's voice was authoritative, different from the usual shy and quiet girl. There was no time for that now. Something was wrong with Ritsu and she needed her.

"Yes, it is." Satoshi sounded as scared as she was, and she felt sorry for the young boy. He was really attached to his sister, even if the siblings didn't show it much. He was probably shaking from worry.

"Don't bother to open the door for me. Just stay there and keep an eye on her." Mio panted. She ran from her home to Ritsu's without pause. Her calves ached but she ignored it. _What the hell happened, Ritsu?_

She reached the front door of the Tainaka residence and let herself in. She slipped her shoes off and didn't even bother putting on the indoor slippers. She ran to the steps that led to Ritsu's room and she saw Satoshi blocking the doorway. The younger Tainaka turned to see her and relief visibly washed over his face and small frame. As she mounted the steps by threes, she heard a low guttural sound come from her best friend's room and it sounded unmistakably Ritsu. The flow of blood in Mio's body seemed to stop for a millisecond and run cold. But she shook it out and moved to enter the room. Satoshi stepped to the side and gave way to her.

There was a bundle of sheets in the middle of the floor. She could hear quiet groans coming from it and could see it shaking. Mio wasted no time and moved to hover over her best friend. She pulled the sheets from Ritsu's face and saw that the girl wasn't fully conscious. Ritsu's eyes were glazed over and her face was covered in a layer of sweat. Her bangs stuck to her forehead and she was breathing heavily. Then Ritsu's face crumpled as if in a tremendous amount of pain. Ritsu curled up into a ball and rolled over to her side.

Mio put a hand to Ritsu's forehead and she was almost stung by how high Ritsu's temperature was. The girl was burning hot with a fever. Mio could tell Ritsu was having bad nightmares also, from the way her eyes moved behind the semi-closed lids. She moved as quickly as she can. With Satoshi's help, they carried Ritsu to the bed then got a basin with cold water and soaked a towel in it. Mio squeezed off the excess water and turned Ritsu carefully so the sick girl could lie on her back.

Mio wiped the sweat from Ritsu's face with a new and clean towel. Ritsu was quiet now, save from the heavy breathing and occasional whimper. Mio placed the cold wet towel on Ritsu's forehead with great tenderness and brushed the girl's bangs away. She tucked the covers under her best friend's chin and she sat on the floor, leaned against the bed frame and exhaled loudly. Her heartbeat slowed and she could feel the tension fade from her body. She tilted her head back and rested it on the edge of the bed then turned to look at Ritsu's sleeping face. She lifted her arm and took the Ritsu's hand that was poking out from under the sheets.

Ritsu seemed to calm down and be able to sleep peacefully after a while, but Mio refused to leave her best friend's side. She just held Ritsu's hand and watched her, while her best friend just clutched her hand tightly in her sleep. Mio tried to watch Ritsu for as long as she could stay awake, but it was such a long and tiring day. Soon, Mio decided to just sleep beside Ritsu, not even thinking twice if she'll catch her best friend's sickness or not. Mio pushed the covers down and slipped into them carefully, not wanting to wake Ritsu up. She moved Ritsu's head and rested it on her arm, not caring if she woke up with a bad cramp. She put her free arm around Ritsu's middle, pulled her best friend close and rested her chin on the top of her best friend's head. When she's properly positioned herself so she could hold Ritsu, she pulled the covers up to cover them both and shield them from the cold.

_Geez, Ritsu… You're such a pain, you know? _Mio sighed and allowed herself a small smile. _I bet you do this on purpose because you know I'd come running to you and you like that._

Just before she drifted off to a dreamless sleep, she whispered to her sleeping best friend.

"Baka. Don't scare me like that." She exhaled loudly through her nose and closed her eyes, all the events catching up to her and she felt herself crashing from the exhaustion.

"Good night, Ritsu. Get better tomorrow, mkay?"

* * *

Mio felt consciousness slowly ripple throughout her body. It started at the tip of her nose, where she felt something moist and warm touch it once then twice, and spread out to her neck where she felt something rub and nuzzle itself against her. The sunlight streamed in through the windows and Mio could feel its heat on her eyelids. She mentally compared the sunlight to an unwanted visitor in her half conscious state and cursed it. She felt something heavy on her chest and the rest of her torso, like there was another human being on top of her and then felt warm breath caress her face, smelled the distinct odor of morning breath and heard the accompanying panting sounds. Mio's brain then decided to send the signals that would command her eyelids to open slowly. The following events flew by so quickly that one would have missed it if one had blinked and thus need to be narrated in slow motion. In that small span of time, five things happened.

One: Mio's eye lids flew open. First she saw two spherical blurs in front of her. Her vision cleared slowly and revealed that those two blurs were gold irises that were wide and alert. Her brain recognized these eyes and told her that they were familiar. Mio's mind vaguely registered these eyes to be Ritsu's but there was no time for her to properly react to this, because the second thing happened before she had the chance to.

Two: Mio felt something wet and warm on the tip of her nose again and her nostrils flared and her eyes watered with the odor of morning breath, but this time with her eyes open, her brain picked up a few things; she learned that Ritsu was actually fully awake and was on top of her and her best friend's bangs poked her eyes and cheeks, and that the something that was wet and warm was Ritsu's tongue. Ritsu was licking her nose, was on top of her, was panting heavily, and her breath stunk like something died in her mouth.

Mio could only have done two things after that; it was pushing her best friend away and screaming or screaming first then pushing her best friend away, but before she could do any of the two first, the third thing happened.

Three: Ritsu noticed that her best friend was awake and for some reason no one would ever be able to explain – not even her – Ritsu's brain sent impulses and commands to her mouth to nibble on her best friend's nose, and so she did. Mio sucked in a huge breath and was ready to expel it along with one ear-shattering scream, but Ritsu was quick and caught Mio's nose in between her teeth. It was too late for Mio's consciousness to switch commands because the nerves have already successfully transmitted the signals so Mio still screamed, but the scream ended up coming out sounding like a loud honk and Mio sputtered and coughed after.

Four: Mio recovered only a second later and scampered backwards with the help of her elbows, away from Ritsu. Mio stood on the bed, her back flat against the wall and was breathing heavily, and put as much distance between her and her best friend as she tried to catch her breath.

Five: Ritsu sat up on the bed, tilted her head to the side and looked at Mio with curious eyes. Mio stared back at Ritsu and she noticed so many things wrong at that moment. There were a number of things that were extremely out-of-place; there were two things on Ritsu's head that weren't supposed to be there and Ritsu sat in a way that human beings don't conventionally do. Mio then realized that it wasn't a human being on top of her earlier, or at least not fully.

On top of Ritsu's head were two extremely real-looking animal ears that were too long and too furry to be a cat's. Ritsu sat with both arms in front and her legs folded at her sides in a dog/cat-like fashion; her head still tilted to the side.

Mio's brain told her that somehow, sometime in the night, her friend had grown animal ears.

There was a second of pause where it felt like Mio's brain exploded, but then her wits returned to her and there was only one thing it could order her to do: scream, as loud as she could, and of course, she did.

Ritsu jumped from the loudness and suddenness and she quivered. Ritsu's ears twitched like crazy and her eyes widened in both panic and pain. Mio's voice was shrill and it hurt Ritsu's incredibly sensitive animal ears. Ritsu with her eyes tightly shut, quickly covered her ears with both hands and crouched down until her chin rested on the bed. Poor Ritsu whimpered from the ringing in her ears and from the shock.

Mio saw Ritsu's bent form on the bed and was taken back. She clamped her mouth shut and felt a pang of guilt and sympathy for her best friend even if her best friend went through a weird transformation overnight.

The door burst open and a worried Satoshi appeared on the door.

"Mio-san? Nee-chan? Are you o—," the words of concern and worry died on his tongue when he saw Mio standing on the bed, back against the wall, and someone that looked exactly like his sister but had real-looking animal ears on its head and the tip of a sharp fang poking out from in between her lips. Satoshi then realized that this was his sister and the room slowly started to turn around him and he fainted and fell to the floor with a loud thud.

* * *

An hour later, Mio stood in front of the stove with a frying pan in her right hand and a spatula in her left. Ritsu's stomach growled like it was another animal on its own. Moments earlier, Ritsu perked up and started sniffing something in the air, after catching whatever scent it was, she ran downstairs like a starving madman. Mio ran after her. Mio got there in time just when Ritsu opened her mouth wide to take a bite out of the raw steak. Mio wrestled to get the raw steak from her and keep her from eating it. Ritsu growled her protests but Mio glared at her and gave her a stern 'no' and told her that they'll cook it first. Ritsu ended up whimpering and sitting down on the table with her shoulders hunched and ears turned down in defeat.

Now, Satoshi and Ritsu sat at the dining table across from each other; the older one had her head on the table and her arms covering her face, keeping herself from lunging at the food Mio was cooking and the younger just stared and studied his older sister, looking from the furry animal ears then to the familiar face that was currently covered by bangs and hands. Mio tried to put on the yellow headband on Ritsu earlier but she refused and just ran around and made her brother and best friend run after her.

"Okay. They're done!" Mio turned around and placed a plate of hamburger steak in front of each of the siblings and one in front of her. She was about to go and get the bowls of rice that were already prepared at the kitchen counter when she saw what Ritsu did.

Ritsu held the burger steak in both hands and the sauce dripped down her arms. Ritsu was about to stuff her face with the meat but before she could do that, Mio interrupted.

"Ritsu, no!" Mio reacted quickly and stretched her aroma out reflexively and grabbed Ritsu's wrist and pulled the burger from Ritsu's hands. Ritsu's brain didn't register that her precious meat wasn't in her grasp anymore and ended up chomping on air. When Ritsu didn't feel her fangs sink into tender meat and touch nothingness instead, she opened her eyes to find the stern face of her best friend Mio who was holding one of her wrists and the steak in the other.

Ritsu's primal instincts overtook her and she bared her newly acquired pointed canine teeth at Mio in a horrific snarl then growled at her as both a challenge and a warning. This was the second time Mio kept her from her food and her animal instincts told her that she just couldn't allow that. This would have, should have scared Mio to nothing but a mass of quivers and teeth clatters, but she, for some reason knew that she had to show Ritsu that she was not afraid of her and that she was the one in charge here. Mio can't let Ritsu just run around and be like a dog, or whatever it is that she was.

"I said no." There was authority in Mio's voice that only comes once in a blue moon. Ritsu stared back and after a few breaths, she sighed and gave one small dejected whimper and pouted at Mio.

Mio just sighed and shook her head. She stood up and beckoned Ritsu to follow her, which Ritsu obediently did. They both stood over the sink, arms and shoulders brushing against each other's as Mio washed Ritsu's hands and whatever else Ritsu got sauce on.

"You're not eating until your clean, got it?" Mio turned to Ritsu as she dried her best friend's hands with a towel. She wondered about where all this courage, authority and confidence came from all of a sudden, but she guessed that the circumstances call for it and she knew that Satoshi really won't be able to keep Ritsu in line. Mio raised an eyebrow at Ritsu when her best friend didn't respond. Ritsu nodded, still pouting.

The two went back up to Ritsu's room and left Satoshi to his breakfast to get Ritsu a new set of clothes and changed. When they got there Mio realized that she would probably have to change Ritsu herself. Mio tried ordering Ritsu to change her clothes after laying down the new ones on her bed but Ritsu just titled her head at her and scratched the back of her furry animal ears. The realization that they still haven't figured out what kind of animal Ritsu turned into or possessed Ritsu passed by Mio's mind and she made a mental note to look at that book Ritsu borrowed from the library yesterday.

Mio looked at the clothes then looked at Ritsu and her face heated up_. I can't believe I'm doing this… _Mio tried to dress Ritsu with one hand, the other covering her eyes. She really should've figured out from the start that that wouldn't work at all. Mio sighed. _Oh well… We've seen each other in baths for so many times already anyway._ But bathing with your group of friends was one thing, undressing your best friend with only the two of you in her room is another. Mio did it as quick as she could, which wasn't really that fast. Ritsu probably thought Mio was playing with her or something because the girl kept trying to bite Mio's ear. When Ritsu was dressed and decent, Mio went back downstairs with a very hyper Ritsu following behind.

Ritsu seemed to finally behave herself when she sat at the table, though still she sat in the unconventional way. Mio noticed that Ritsu didn't even attempt to dive at her food and she smiled at her best friend. Mio patted Ritsu's head out of instinct and Ritsu started tapping her foot excitedly. Mio took a mental note of how Ritsu's actions are kind of dog-like.

Mio handed Ritsu chopsticks and tried to see if the girl still knew how to use them. Ritsu reached for them first with her mouth open but Mio retracted and said 'no'. Mio tried to give it again and this time Ritsu plucked them from Mio's grip with her own hands. This pleased Mio and the girl nodded and smiled. Mio then showed Ritsu how to use them. After a few unsuccessful tries, Ritsu finally got it albeit her hands shook and she only got tiny pieces of meat. Mio patted Ritsu's head again to congratulate her for the job well done then placed a bowl of rice in front of her.

Ritsu perked up at the sight of rice. Something in her brain told her that it tasted good with steak. Ritsu let her instincts lead her and proceeded to eat almost like a normal person. It was messier and clumsier of course, and the area around Ritsu's mouth was soon covered in tiny grains of rice and smudges of steak sauce. Mio just watched her friend eat and despite how messy the girl was, Mio felt like going to Ritsu's side and cooing at how adorable she is.

Breakfast finished without much event. Mio went to call home after to tell her parents that she would be staying longer and her parents agreed without much need for convincing. Mr. and Mrs. Akiyama knew that Ritsu was their daughter's best and only friend for so long and they were grateful towards Ritsu and how the loud girl kept their daughter from feeling like an outcast again.

There was a loud crash from the living room. Mio ran and saw that Satoshi was on the floor and Ritsu was biting her poor brother's shirt. Satoshi tried to push Ritsu away but whenever his hand would come close to her face, Ritsu would try to bite it. Mio quickly interfered and broke it off. Ritsu was grinning playfully and mischievously at her brother and her brother could do nothing else but glare at her.

Mio sat in front of Ritsu and scolded her. Ritsu ignored her best friend and then jumped in Mio's lap and folded her arms under her chin. Mio was caught by surprise and was still for a moment. Light snores could be heard not long after. Ritsu had her eyes closed and breathed evenly. The girl had dozed off in no time.

Mio couldn't help but smile. She combed her fingers through her best friend's hair and let the girl sleep on her lap.

* * *

It was the afternoon already and Mio just came back from showering and getting a duffel bag filled with clothes from her house. Her mom looked at her oddly but said nothing when she made up an excuse about helping Ritsu with schoolwork and the college entrance exams coming up soon. The moment she set foot in the Tainaka residence, Ritsu came running to her and she almost lost balance and fell to the ground when the girl tackled her. Ritsu kept nuzzling her face and panting excitedly at her, even gave her nose a lick. She would have been disgusted but seeing the innocent and adoring look in Ritsu's eyes told her how her animal-possessed best friend must've missed her when she was gone. Mio thought Ritsu probably even did nothing but wait for her.

Mio gave Ritsu a pat on the head and rubbed the spot behind her furry ears and Ritsu obviously loved it. The two settled in the living room and Mio pulled her phone out of her pocket and sent a text to the other members of Hōkago Tea Time.

_Everyone, we have a situation here. I need your help. Be here at Ritsu's ASAP._

Earlier, while Ritsu slept on her lap, Mio had picked up the book that Ritsu borrowed the day before from the school's library. She went through each page and each picture made her want to run to a corner and rock herself back and forth while muttering 'I didn't see… I didn't see… I didn't see' over and over again until she wasn't scared anymore, but she fought and pulled herself together. It took her almost 3 hours to finish the thin volume and reach the last page. She kept closing her eyes and quivering and convincing herself that she had to look at each one. There were few illustrations that were beautiful in the most haunted and demented way, and those were the easiest to look at. Some just looked like something straight out of her nightmares and were just really horrible.

Mio kept quivering that Ritsu was roused from her nap and the clueless girl just groggily moved to the spot beside the scared girl and went back to dreamland immediately. The last three pages contained the oldest drawings in the book and were done only in ink. These scared Mio the least and she flipped through them easily compared to the rest. Once she laid eyes on the golden eyes of the last illustration it hit her.

_Ritsu was a wolf._

It would explain how she acted so much like a dog but more primitive and wilder and not as playful. Mio stared at the illustration and traced the black ink outlines of the fur on the wolf's neck, up to its snout and the dark nose, around the face and up each ear, down to the only two colored spots in the whole drawing; the wolf's striking golden eyes. Mio realized then that she had missed something that morning.

_Ritsu's eyes. They're supposed to be amber, not gold. They were gold this morning. Just like this wolf's._

Mio's theory was confirmed. Ritsu was possessed by some kind of wolf spirit.

The sound of the ringing doorbell rang and was soon followed by the voices of their band mates. Ritsu's ears perked up at the familiar sounds but she looked tense. Ritsu sat up but her face expressively showed apprehension and hesitation. Mio stood to open the front door and let their friends in with the wolf-girl following her closely behind. Their friend's voices grew louder.

"But Azunyan really does look good with cat ears on!" was the muffled but still evidently childish voice of Yui.

"Yui-senpai, please stop it! I won't wear those ever again!" was the expected reply from the junior Azusa.

"My, my, my, my…" although it was spoken softly, Mugi's voice still carried through the door.

"Azunyan~!"

"Yui-senp—," was surely another one of Azusa's attempts at making the airhead stop whatever silly thing she was doing that was cut off by the said airhead glomping her.

Ritsu tilted her head curiously, probably recognizing the voices. Mio moved to open the door and Ritsu stepped to stand beside her. When she was just about to open it, Ritsu suddenly became defensive and her body language showed this. _Wolves are territorial creatures_, Mio remembered learning from way back in grade school. _Ritsu recognized their voices but not enough to not see them as possible threats to the house, which she must consider her territory._ Mio heard a low growl come from her best friend and took the wolf-girl's hand in her own to calm her.

Mio was correct of course, but it was not only that. Wolves, unlike most of the animal kingdom, are monogamous. They would stay with only one mate for as long as a lifetime, unless death claims one of them, which also makes them even more protective of their mate. In the case of the alpha wolves, they are also protective of the rest of the pack, who are most probably the two alpha wolves' offspring. Ritsu's transformation into a wolf girl brought out these basic wolf instincts, and since Ritsu has always had feelings for her best friend, she looked at Mio like how a wolf would look at a potential mate. This would explain how Mio manages to make Ritsu listen to her and obey her and why it is only her. Ritsu hadn't minded her brother since her transformation and only noticed him whenever she wanted to annoy him. Other than that, when Mio left earlier and her brother wanted to sit on the couch she was sprawled out on and asked her as nicely as he could, Ritsu just looked at him form a second then narrowed her eyes and growled at him to show him who was the alpha wolf in this household. Satoshi gulped and scampered away, thinking that his Xbox gaming schedule could be bumped up and moved a few hours later when his sister wasn't anywhere near the living room.

The feeling of Mio's thumb rubbing circles on the back of her hand almost made Ritsu's head bob backwards, her eyes roll to the back of her head and her tongue loll out in pleasure. Of course, if it was anyone else Ritsu would have bitten their hand off before they could say her full name, but this was the person she viewed as her mate, and all of the girl's touches of course pleased and calmed the young wolf-girl and made her want more. The human part of her brain that wasn't overruled by wolf instincts kept Ritsu from being too obvious about her affections, reminding herself that Mio still doesn't know and only allowed her body to relax and her ears to turn down, showing Mio that she wasn't going to pounce on anyone anymore. Ritsu looked from the corner of her eyes at her bestfriend/master/person she viewed as a mate. Mio smiled back at her.

"Relax, Ritsu. They're our friends, remember?"

And with that Mio opened the door. The scene they saw would've surprised other people, but it was something they've gotten used to, being in the Light Music Club and spending every afternoon with the three girls outside the door. Yui had Azusa in her arms and an expression of pure bliss on her face as she rubbed cheeks with her junior while the other girl blushed crimson and tried to fend off her airheaded senior even if looked like she was enjoying the moment as much as the older girl was. Mugi was ever ready and had been taping the interaction between her two friends with the latest and best brand and model of a camcorder in her hands with stars in her eyes and lips parted from the dreamy sigh that she had just let out.

"Thanks for coming, everyone…" There would have been a huge and comical sweat drop rolling down her head as Mio said this if they were in some kind of Japanese animated show. The three girls seemed to have been pulled back to reality as their eyes looked at the two best friends who stood at the doorstep of the Tainaka residence.

Yui smiled widely and brightly at them and waved hello. Azusa bowed politely and greeted her seniors while Mugi sent them an elegant smile and a warm greeting as if they had not been doing anything out of the ordinary just seconds before. Mio motioned to let them in and Ritsu stepped to the side, ears still turned down, so that her friends could enter. All five girls moved to the living room where they all seated themselves on the floor around the low coffee table. As they all settled, Yui, of all people, finally realized what it was that she thought was unusual but couldn't seem to put a finger on ever since they walked in the house.

"OH! Ricchan, you're not wearing your headband today! I didn't expect this look to suit you!" As Yui said all of this without pause, she reached across the table to touch Ritsu's bangs. Ritsu sensed the movement and realized that it was towards her and was not too pleased by how familiar and comfortable these newcomers were with her. Sure, they were her friends and all, but they needed to know who the alpha wolf in this household was.

Ritsu's ears— which have been turned down since Mio had calmed her before they opened the door thus only looked like they were huge locks of hair that were ruffled and out of place if one didn't look so closely, her furry ears being the same color as her hair helped greatly camouflaging them— perked up alertly and defensively and her upper and lower lips parted to bare her teeth and fangs as she let out a low guttural growl which every creature would instinctively interpret as a warning that if they do not stop whatever they were doing, they would be experiencing extreme pain really soon. Yui's hand froze in midair and the two other visitor's eyes widened and Azusa even gasped. Mio had no idea how to start explaining the situation to the three girls.

"Ah…" Mio started lamely. "That was the thing I needed help with, guys." She laughed nervously at the end of that sentence.

Yui's hand twitched and then she retracted it and sat back on the heels of her feet. Nobody spoke for a while until Azusa couldn't help but voice out the question in her head.

"Those aren't some kind of animal ears, are they?"

* * *

"OH! I know what this is!" Yui raised her hand so fast like how one would when the teacher asks an extremely easy question.

Mio sighed and almost slapped her forehead. Ritsu just tilted her head and Mugi and Azusa waited for the brown-haired girl to continue.

For the past hour or so, Mio has explained all that has happened from the day before up to the moment that they all sat around the table. Mio told them about the sudden transformation and the wolf-like attitudes. She recounted how she figured it all out when she went through the borrowed book and even showed the _okami_ illustration on the last page. The three girls all looked from Ritsu to the drawing and back again for a couple of times before they realized that the eyes of the wolf and their friend's were of the exact same shade and gave the exact same feeling.

Afterwards, they all tried to figure out what everything meant and how they can make Ritsu return back to normal. Mio had a fleeting thought on how adorable her best friend is this way and how much she would just like to keep her as a sort-of pet, but she knew that Ritsu has to be back to normal and completely human before her parents came back home. They were all quiet for a while until Yui raised her hand and announced that she had an idea of what might be happening.

This didn't make Mio feel confident at all and was sure that the airhead would say something that is either completely off topic or something outlandish and impossible. Mio went back to the last part of that sentence and mentally scratched out the word impossible. Too many things that were supposedly impossible have happened lately that she didn't trust her sense of reality anymore. _Sure, impossible, just like how impossible it is for your best friend to turn into a wolf… _So Mio turned to Yui and raised a brow at her and nodded for her to continue. Yui gladly complied.

"Ricchan's spirit animal is a wolf." The short haired girl punctuated her sentence with a nod as if that would make her point clearer to the others gathered around the coffee table.

Nobody spoke because no one understood. Everyone had the same two words in their mind and the same incredulous tone mentally saying it. _Spirit animal? What the hell?_

Yui was smiling widely that her round eyes were no more than thin lines on her face and mentally congratulating herself for figuring it all out. After a beat of silence Yui's smile slowly faded and her eyes opened to see the faces of her friends that showed how they understood nothing of what Yui said, maybe even thought that she was being her normal random self again.

"I'm serious!" Yui whined but after seeing that this changed nothing and that her friends still wear the same disbelieving look on their faces, except for Ritsu who had her chin and hands resting on the table and just watched them, ears turning to the direction of whoever she had her gaze on. Right now, Yui caught the wolf-girl's attention.

"I read about all of this one summer. Everyone has a spirit animal; some even have more than one if their personalities are complicated. We all connect to them because we possess the same instinct and basic qualities as them." Yui went on and explained. Everyone still had their doubts but they were now listening intently. "I was bored and had nothing to do. Ui said I was like a dog and that I was probably a dog once in another lifetime. I read a webpage about past lives and then accidentally came across spirit animals. Ui and I read about it. Ricchan is a wolf just like how Azunyan is a cat and I'm a dog. Mio-chan is probably a mix of two animals and also Mugi-chan." Yui's voice took on an excited tone and smiled happily as she remembered how much fun it learning about those was.

Mio, Mugi and Azusa thought about how amazing the airhead could be when she gets herself really into something and were even more amazed that Yui remembered about this. Maybe Yui does know and maybe Yui was really right about this.

"The old stories say that the animal spirits once guided humans but since the humans became too arrogant, the spirits left and chose to hide themselves in ancient objects." Yui was proud of herself. For once she wasn't the clueless one in the group. "Maybe the wolf spirit hid itself in the _okami_ picture in the book."

In Yui's sudden out of character burst, she was spot on. All that she said was true. The illustration was originally just done in ink, and the wolf spirit hid itself in the _okami_'s eyes, coloring them a striking and powerful gold, wanting to just rest for generations. The wolf ears that Ritsu grew overnight that replaced her own human ears, the enhanced sense of smell and the sharp canine fangs were physical manifestations of the internal change that happened with her. Ritsu's inner wolf had taken the steering wheel and the driver's seat and only wanted to take control temporarily. But there was one thing Yui hasn't figured out yet. There was a reason why the wolf spirit decided to show itself to Ritsu and why it brought out the concealed part of Ritsu's being that held her wolf-like characteristics. There was a reason for everything after all. But of course, all will be revealed in due time.

Mio nodded and figured that what Yui said, although highly improbable— but then again what is and what isn't huh?— actually made sense to her and she went into deep thought. _There is no other explanation for this._ _How could Ritsu have grown wolf ears and long canine fangs over night just because of a normal fever?_

"So, Ritsu-senpai didn't really turn into a wolf but the wolf part of her just surfaced?" Azusa turned to Yui for confirmation of her understanding of the situation

"Exactly!" Yui turned to her so quickly that Azusa wondered how her senior's head remained attached to her neck. "That's my Azunyan~" And before Azusa could move out of Yui's reach, Yui already had the junior's arms pinned to her sides as she hugged the younger girl tight and rubbed their cheeks together.

In the short span of time where Yui jumped at Azusa, Mugi had already expertly pulled out her special camcorder and was recording every second of the interaction. After Mugi was sure that her gadget was recording properly she turned to Mio who had her focus directed at the space on the table in front of her and was in deep thought.

"That explains a lot, Mio-chan, no matter how farfetched the idea may be. We can help you study about spirit animals and figure out how to get Ricchan back to her old self." Mugi smiled at her friend comfortingly while she was videotaping the interaction between her two other friends. "We also all know how great Yui-chan could be when she focuses on something. And if she still remembers about this spirit animal stuff, then she must have really focused on it, like how she worked with Gitah."

Mio looked up at her and smiled gratefully at the comfort her friend was obviously trying to give her. In times of craziness like these, she can always count on Mugi to say the right things, even if the said girl was multi-tasking. Mio nodded and her hand unconsciously went to Ritsu's head and she started patting her best friend. Ritsu responded to this with a grin that obviously said the wolf girl was on cloud nine.

* * *

That night, Mio felt so exhausted that she could barely keep her eyes open, and when she does successfully, she feels like the room is spinning and ends up dizzy and with the starting signs of a bad headache coming on. Ritsu was already a handful when she was completely human, but now that the wolf part of her surfaced and has control of her body, Ritsu became twice the pain in the ass for Mio. Of course, Mio didn't see her as a real pain; it was just that wolf-Ritsu seemed to have an endless supply of energy and seemed to also suck out all the energy in Mio's body at the same time. _Maybe that's how she never gets tired,_ Mio thought. _She feeds off of other people's energy. Maybe Ritsu actually turned into an energy feeder— an energy-vore?— and not a wolf._

Yui didn't help at all when she kept trying to play fetch with Ritsu and the wolf-girl would just watch the airhead make a fool out of herself by throwing a ball and getting it herself over and over. On Yui's millionth throw and attempt to get Ritsu to run after the ball and catch it with her mouth she was actually successful. Or so she thought she was until Ritsu ran around the house with the ball in one hand and made Yui run after her instead. The brown-haired girl eventually gave up after a long while of running around and flopped to the floor, energy levels down to zero.

Ritsu also decided that day that she liked Azusa but showed it in a weird way. After Ritsu tired Yui out, she decided that it would be fun to run after Azusa, and it was probably the cat part in the junior's brain that told her to run away from Ritsu thus effectively starting the chase. Several things were knocked over and furniture ended up askew. It was no wonder that Ritsu caught Azusa since she was faster due to her being completely in touch with her spirit animal. The wonder was that when Ritsu caught Azusa, it wasn't in a tackle or anything like that that would make sense; instead, Ritsu caught Azusa in a chokehold, another one of her trademark ways of showing affection. Mio smiled at that._ Whether Ritsu was wolf-Ritsu or human Ritsu, Ritsu would always be Ritsu, Mio thought fondly._

Ritsu moved onto Mugi who worriedly looked at their two exhausted friends. Mio asked what what was wrong and Mugi explained that she brought a can of cookies and now there was no Yui to munch through all of it and there was a lot. Upon hearing the word cookies Ritsu sat up strainght and grinned at Mugi as if to say _'me, me, I'm stil here!'_. Mugi understood the wolf-girl's body language and she then happily fed Ritsu the cookies. But Mugi fed Ritsu too quickly and soon Ritsu got a stomach ache and was pathetically rolling over and whimpering on the floor after eating half of the cookies in less than five minutes. Mugi had unknowingly avenged her two friends and the said two were grinning evil grins as much as they could, which weren't really much nor anything exceptional, since they were lying down pathetically on the floor also.

Mio finished brushing Ritsu's teeth after much resistance and struggle and changed her best friend in clothes comfortable enough for sleeping. Ritsu just refused to brush her own teeth and she didn't want to sleep beside someone who had a two day old breath, so she had no choice but to force the wolf-girl and do it herself. Mio went back downstairs to the bathroom with a set of her packed clothes and told Ritsu to stay. She then brushed her own teeth and changed afterwards.

When she entered Ritsu's room she saw her best friend sitting on the bed waiting for her. Ritsu's ears perked up when she saw Mio as if they haven't been separated for only a minute. Mio smiled at Ritsu. It seems that Ritsu has made her smile more over the past day than the rest of the week combined, and she wasn't even trying, she was just being herself. Mio guessed that she liked that. She liked that a lot. Mio turned off the lights, sat on the bed and gave the back of Ritsu's furry wolf ears an appreciative rub. Ritsu stomped her foot quickly in delight.

Mio yawned and seeing this, Ritsu yawned also. Mio then chuckled. Social yawns amused her for some reason. Sleep and exhaustion tugged at both the girls' eyelids and they gave into the lull of sleep. Mio lied down and Ritsu followed, the taller girl pulling the blankets up to cover them both up to their necks. Ritsu instinctively wrapped her arms around Mio and nuzzled her neck and settled her head under Mio's chin. Mio was caught off guard but when she felt Ritsu stop moving, she didn't push her best friend away from her and instead wrapped her arms around the wolf-girl.

_I like really this,_ Mio thought. _I really like this a lot. _Her fading consciousness faintly registered how the warmth she felt at that moment wasn't brought by the blankets over them, but it came from somewhere within and it was because of the body tangled with hers.

With Ritsu's inner wolf now in control of most of her brain, she dropped most of her defenses and walls around her best friend. Her inner wolf knew that if there was anyone who could be trusted, it would be Mio, and so her actions weren't given much thought and she barely cared whether or not she blatantly showed her affections. The small space occupied by human Ritsu was horrified by her spirit animal's lack of control and prayed that all of her responses be brushed off as normal animal behavior. What human Ritsu was too blind and scared to realize was that Mio appreciated the affection was returning them all.

They closed their eyes and drifted off to a peaceful slumber in each other's arms.

A few hours later the sun rose, peeked through the curtains, and along with it, Ritsu awoke. Her furry ears twitched, her eyes opened slowly, and she yawned long, widely and lazily. Ritsu still had her arms around her favorite human and said human still had her arms wrapped around her back. The wolf-girl nuzzled the sleeping Mio and pulled her closer. Everything was perfect. Well everything was until Ritsu felt an itch on her bum.

Her ears perked up and her eyes muscles twitched as she fought the urge to scratch because scratching would mean letting go of her snuggly human and she didn't want to do that yet. But the itch was strong and persistent; it would not let the wolf-girl have the peace of mind she dearly fought for. The itch was too strong and Ritsu could do nothing else but finally gave in to it. She tried to disentangle one limb but found that she couldn't reach that far behind her to scratch and the itch was slowly becoming unbearable. Mio had a death grip on her like she was just one of those huge body pillows that her best friend always clung onto in her sleep. Ritsu had to act and she had to do it quick because the itch is already driving her mad.

Ritsu pulled herself upwards and leveled her face to Mio's. The wolf-girl admired her favorite human for a second but then the itch nagged at her and did not allow her anymore time for her quiet admiration. Ritsu's tongue poked out of her mouth along with the tip of one of the canine fangs on her lower jaw and she licked Mio's nose. This technique worked yesterday so she was fairly confident that it would work again today.

Mio grunted with irritation in her sleep, refusing to wake up just yet. Ritsu was desperate and desperate times call for desperate measures. She was a wolf with an itchy bum for crying out loud. So Ritsu parted her mouth slightly and gently bit the tip of Mio's nose.

Mio snorted, moved to lie on her back and quickly disentangled one limb to absently swat at whatever insect might have bitten her nose and scratch it. With the death grip gone Ritsu pushed herself up and off of Mio and freely scratched at the itch that has been torturing her since the moment she woke up. Ritsu sighed contentedly when she finally defeated the itch and it disappeared.

The wolf-girl was just about to snuggle back up her favorite person when her stomach rumbled, announcing that it was time for breakfast. Ritsu looked at Mio's sleeping form with uncertainty, not sure whether to listen and give in to her craving for the warmth of her best friend's embrace or the craving for food. Of course, being a growing teenage girl controlled by a creature of the wild driven by instinct and urges, Ritsu figured that she could go downstairs and find something decent to fill her up and crawl back to bed and snuggle Mio after.

Ritsu tiptoed off the bed and out of the room, shutting the door as soundlessly as she could manage. Ritsu winced at every little creaking sound of the door that her sensitive ears picked up that she thought were loud enough to wake Mio up but were actually barely heard and couldn't even be carried across the room. Once the door was closed, Ritsu ran like a crazed and starved animal, which she was really close to being. Ritsu took the stairs five at a time and then ran to the kitchen.

See, Ritsu didn't really need Mio to prepare and provide meals for her. Unlike the domesticated dog, wolves were hunters and scavengers. They were perfectly capable of finding food for themselves and living by with whatever they find and still have enough strength to take down grizzly bears and other predators. In this case, Ritsu did not even need her eyes to look for her meal; she only followed her sense of smell. She rummaged through the cupboards, stepping on the kitchen counter and almost knocking over various jars of condiments. She hopped down after finding none and sniffed the air. Finally she cranked the refrigerator door open, almost pulling it out of its metallic hinges by the sheer force and she searched around for the source of the wonderful meaty smell.

While Ritsu almost tore the whole kitchen apart, Mio upstairs shivered from the cold air in her sleep. When Ritsu came out of bed to satisfy her food-lust, she had pushed the covers down and exposed almost the whole length of Mio's body to the cold winter air of the early morning. But it wasn't the sudden attack of the cold that roused her from her sleep. No, it was the lack of the warm body against her and the tickle of furry ears on her neck and the breaths on her collarbone.

Mio opened her eyes and groaned when the light assaulted her. "Ritsu?"

Mio moved her arm to block out the offending light and the other flailed to the empty side of the bed. Her brain registered the faint thumps and sounds of various cans and containers from the kitchen. Mio sat up and thought that Ritsu might have woken up hungry and went down t look for food. As much as she wanted to curl up and hide herself in a cocoon of blankets and go back to sleep, she knew that she had to check on Ritsu because her best friend has surely made a huge mess out of the kitchen.

Mio went down the steps carefully as she rubbed the sleep away from her eyes and tried to stifle a yawn with the other hand. She reached the bottom of the staircase and headed for the kitchen.

"Rits—?"

Mio stopped dead in her tracks, stunned. Mio saw that the kitchen floor was littered with various cooking necessities – utensils, ingredients, pots and pans, you name it, it's definitely somewhere on the kitchen floor – and saw that Ritsu had both hands in the freezer probably holding the huge chunk of frozen meat again and stood on her tip toes to reach. But no, it wasn't the mess that shocked her out of her mind nor Ritsu whose mouth was wide open, row of sharp teeth and fangs on full display, mere inches from the frozen raw beef from the day before. What surprised her was something that wasn't there the day before, something bushy and moving.

Ritsu had a tail.

_A tail…_ And it was the same color as her ears and eyes. It was attached to her behind and it wagged excitedly when the wolf girl saw Mio.

* * *

"Ah! It's so fluffy, I'm gonna _dieeee!_" Yui hugged Ritsu's bushy tail and with a face that showed ecstasy, she was lost in its softness and fluffiness.

The wolf-girl, though, was not too pleased with having her tail molested so she tried to wiggle it out of the airhead's grip but there was no such luck. Ritsu ended up pouting and grunting grumpily.

Mio called up the rest of the gang and told her that there was a new development in Ritsu's _condition _right after breakfast earlier. She chose to not say anything and just let the other three girls see it for themselves. When Ritsu's brother, Satoshi saw the newest change he just stared at it and fought the urge to touch it because her sister was already giving her warning glares. Ritsu's warning glares unfortunately did not work on the airheaded Yui. Yui's love for cute things also made her immune to whatever Ritsu did to scare her away. The wolf girl tried growling and even the low barking that wolves rarely used. Her bark sounded like a low _'whhhruff, hruff,'_ compared to the high pitched barking of a dog. The barking was actually extremely counterproductive and was the worst decision Ritsu ever made since it only endeared her to Yui even more.

Of course, it wasn't only the brown-haired girl that thought of Ritsu as the most adorable and cute thing in the world. Mio felt the same and has been trying to hide a blush since the morning when she saw Ritsu's new tail. Mio didn't faint of scream in surprise. Her long silence wasn't all due to her surprise; most of it was actually her stopping herself from jumping on her best friend and hugging and cuddling and nuzzling the fluffiest and most adorable thing she's ever seen in her life. The wagging and swishing of the tail along with Ritsu's movements did nothing to help keep Mio's urge at bay. Mio was actually really jealous of Yui at the moment because the guitarist got to do what she's been wanting to the whole day.

Mugi and Azusa researched about spirit animals the night before and earlier this morning. They came with a lot of information about them and Mio wanted to weep because of the gratitude she felt for her friends. They read that there are many reasons for spirit animals manifesting themselves in the bodies of their human partners and that this occurrence wasn't exactly uncommon and actually happened every day. It was just the growing ears and a tail part that was weird and uncommon. Oftentimes, the spirit animals surfaced to serve as a defense mechanism or to help their human partners and guide them.

"So, if we figure out why Ritsu's wolf came out and we fix whatever problem it is, Ritsu will just go back to normal?" Mio was skeptical of course. All this trouble, the whole transformation thing, the bad fever, will be over as soon as they find the solution to whatever the reason for the wolf's manifestation?

Mugi nodded. "Yes, as easy as that. But first, we must figure out what Ricchan's problem was that pushed the wolf to do such a thing."

Seeing the extremeness of the manifestation of Ritsu's spirit animal, Mio guessed that it might be something that is of real importance. Mugi, Azusa and Mio went over and discussed the possible reasons on why the spirit animal chose to bring out Ritsu's wolf now, of all times. The three girls bounced various ideas between themselves while Yui was still lost in the fluffy tail and the tail owner slept peacefully.

Mio was deep in thought for a while. There really was nothing wrong about Ritsu, at least none that she could think of. Ritsu has been her same lazy, energetic, and loud self and Mio couldn't think of anything that could've been troubling her best friend. And then she remembered the things she noticed.

"Come to think of it," Mio started and Azusa and Mugi looked to her, intent on listening to every word. "Ritsu has been kind of out of it lately. It wasn't that obvious and I wasn't alarmed by it at all. I thought it was just because of the winter months. Her mind's been drifting off more often and she hasn't been paying attention to what I'm saying. She's been spacing out."

"Oh." Mugi was quiet for a moment, processing what her friend said. Then the realization hit Mugi like a bolt of lightning. Of course, this wasn't obvious as the ojou-sama being her elegant and well-manered self; her eyes widened and her lips parted slightly in a soundless gasp.

_How could she have missed it?_

"Mugi-senpai, is there something wrong?" Azusa just turned her head and caught the change in the expression of her usually calm and composed senpai.

Mio would have caught it too if she wasn't sending looks of pure envy at the now sleeping Yui who still had the also sleeping Ritsu's tail clutched tightly to her. Both of the sleeping girls snored lightly and had drool threatening to spill from the corner of their mouths. Mio just shook her head. _No wonder these two come from the same spirit animal family. It fits them so well. _If anyone else heard the Mio's mental voice say this, they would've noticed the tinge of real jealousy in her tone.

"Huh?" Mugi was slightly surprised to find Azusa looking curiously at her. Her eyes shifted to Mio who had her head turned from the two girls she had been conversing with and was watching the two short-haired girls sleep. _I have to tell Yui-chan and Azusa-chan, but I can't let Mio-chan hear or else everything would get ruined._

"It's nothing." Mugi didn't even bother to smile and reassure her junior. Her eyes shifted to Mio once again and back to Azusa.

Azusa noticed her senior's shifty gaze and followed it, seeing that Mio was the other person the blonde girl was looking at. Mugi kept shifting her gaze from Azusa to Mio waiting for her junior to catch what she was trying to say. _Come on, Azusa-chan, come on!_ After a few more attempts, Azusa sat up straight and her brows shot up.

_Oh. She can't say anything because Mio-senpai might hear. Whatever it was, it's something that isn't for Mio-senpai's ears. _Azusa nodded to show that she understood. Mugi breathed a sigh of relief and smiled warmly at Azusa, glad that they had a perceptive junior.

"Well then, why don't we have some tea while we wait for Yui-chan and Ricchan to wake up, hm?" Mugi clasped her hands together and directed the question to Mio.

Mio turned to face her, roused from her thoughts and there was a few beats of silence before she realized that the question was directed at her.

"Oh! Yes, tea would be nice." Mio blushed when she realized, ducked her head and answered quietly.

Mugi just smiled knowingly at her. _It's okay Mio-chan, don't worry. I'm sure Ricchan is yours and only yours… And we're going to help you two._

* * *

Mugi, Azusa and Yui left the Tainaka residence earlier that day. Mugi made up an excuse about having to be home earlier because her father just came home and he wanted to have a proper family dinner. This was all true of course, but she could have stayed longer. Azusa followed her lead and said something about wanting to drop by the music store to buy a new set of strings because she just used her spare set. This wasn't true at all because Azusa's parents played the guitar also and she knew that there was a drawer somewhere in that house that was filled with different brands of string sets.

Yui had pouted, turned and waved goodbye to the two girls who announced that they had to leave. Azusa slapped her forehead hard and Mugi just giggled. Yui did not get the signals and gestures they've been sending her way all afternoon and it almost amazed them how dense the girl could be. Almost, but since it would ruin their plan if Yui did not leave with them, it just frustrated Azusa. Mugi on the other hand, didn't show any displeasure or worry because she felt none. The blonde-haired girl smiled one of her gentle smiles at Azusa and waited for the junior to get the wordless message. Azusa picked up on it right away and the junior's head almost overheated and exploded. Almost, but there was something she had to do and she knew only she could do it. That didn't make it any less hard or embarrassing of course. Mugi pulled out her camcorder with a triumphant smile; she thought she wasn't going to be able to use it today and she was glad to have been mistaken. Mugi pressed record just right before Azusa spoke.

Azusa stepped forward, her face bright red and took Yui's hand. This surprised Yui and it was obvious with her expression.

"Yui-senpai, please come with me to the music store!" Azusa pushed the sentence out of her mouth in one breath.

"Eh?" Yui looked from Azusa's ducked head and red face to their linked hands and then back up. The gown-haired girl was silent and Azusa took this as indecision when Yui was just surprised and didn't know how to respond. The junior wished that she had a pair of cat ears with her decided that she should pull out her secret weapon.

"Yui-senpaaaii…" Azusa drew out the last syllable in what she thought was her most adorable voice but it came out sounding seductive and suggestive. "Come with me, _nyan~_?" Azusa added a wink at the end of her request and Yui would have spontaneously combusted right there. Of course she didn't, she had a kitty to accompany to the music store first. There was plenty of time for combustion afterwards.

Mugi wiped the blood from her nose before it made its way down and everyone saw. Ladies were not supposed to have nosebleeds and make a mess after all. Mio and Ritsu who were sitting beside each other just watched the exchange. Mio blinked to make sure she was seeing right and thought '_What the hell did I just witness?'_ and '_Did Mugi just wipe blood from her nose?_' Ritsu thought '_Oh, Yui's about to get lucky… Congratulations, Private Hirasawa!_' and _'When is it my turn to get lucky?'_

The last question was obviously from the wolf side, her human part tried to tell herself. Nope, the human Ritsu wasn't thinking about getting lucky with Mio at all, especially at night when they're cuddled together; nope, not a chance. The wolf part just snickered at the human part and told her, '_Yeah, you keep telling yourself that._'

So now, Mugi, Azusa and Yui find themselves sitting at a table in the nearby fast-food joint they frequented, Max Burgers. Yui pouted and whined when she found out that the whole music store thing was just a ruse to get her to leave and in order for her to stop talking about it, Azusa had to promise that they would go to the music store together, just not tonight. Yui stopped fake-crying and grinned.

"I know the reason why Ritsu's spirit animal showed herself." Mug announced with such a soft voice like it was no big deal.

Whatever thoughts were running through the minds of the two girls the blonde was with were pushed to the back of their minds. Yui and Azusa looked at each other as if to ensure that they both heard the same thing and then looked at Mugi to make sure that Mugi did say what they thought she said. Seeing the soft smile they realized that she did in fact say that.

If Mugi knew why Ritsu's spirit animal surfaced then she also knew how Ritsu can return to normal.

Yui and Azusa each took one of the blonde's hands in a swift move and held it between their own. Mugi was mildly surprised.

"Mugi-senpai, what is it?"

"Mugi-chan tell us!"

So Mugi explained everything, starting with the whole concept of spirit animals serving different purposes for different people because Yui was asleep when she discussed this earlier. She then told them what Mio said earlier about how Ritsu has been spacing out lately and that yes, Ritsu was lazy but she wasn't that unfocused. Mugi took a deep breath and closed her eyes to add dramatic effect to her big revelation.

"Ricchan's had feelings for Mio-chan for a long time." Mugi opened her eyes and readied herself for the bombardment of questions and violent reactions.

"Oh, I thought it was something big." Yui pouted disappointedly.

"Me too." Azusa sighed and let out the tension that built in her body due to the anticipation.

"Buchou has always had her eyes on Mio-chan, right Azunyan?" Yui let go of Mugi's hand and turned to Azusa

"Yeah, it's always been really obvious, Yui-senpai. I thought Mio-senpai knew." Azusa did the same.

"Oh, Mio-chan doesn't know!"

"But everyone can see how Ritsu-senpai always treats Mio-senpai differently. Ritsu-senpai always teases Mio-senpai like a schoolboy would tease his crush to get her to notice him."

"Mhmm, mhmm! It's funny how Mio-chan can be denser than me when it comes to buchou's feelings toward her, huh?"

"I know, right senpai?" Azusa and Yui shared a laugh.

The corner of Mugi's lip twitched. _Wait, what? They knew already? B-but… I was the only one who knew._

"Oh, oh! Remember that time, Azunyan, when Mio-chan went with me and Nodoka-chan to that really nice café and Ritsu got really jealous and followed us?"

"Yeah! Ritsu-senpai forced Mugi-senpai and me to come with her! I could remember Ritsu-senpai's face and it had jealous possessive lover written all over it!"

"I really don't understand how Mio-chan can't see it."

"Me neither, Yui-senpai."

Mugi's lip twitched again. _My big reveal…_ And contradictory on the smile that was on her face, tiny rivers of tears streamed down her face.

"OH! Mugi-senpai!"

"Mugi-chan, what's wrong?"

Azusa and Yui were at the crying but smiling blonde's side in a flash and they each had a hand on Mugi's shoulder. There was no response from the blonde and Yui started shaking her gently.

"Hey, Mugi-chan?"

"Mugi-senpai?"

"_My big reveal_…"

* * *

It was barely five-thirty in the morning of the next day when Mugi boarded off the train. She had explained the plans to her accomplices, Yui and Azusa last night after she had recovered and it was fairly simple. The props they needed were tucked safely under her arm; huge 30" by 20" posters. Mugi made the call last night to arrange for them and no matter how much she hated relying on her connections, being the child of the corporate world's kingpin and all, she had no choice. So much time had already been wasted and she figured that she, together with Yui and Azusa, were to blame for that. She'd given much thought to this plan and to Ritsu's condition and concluded that there was no other way for this to end. The wolf spirit would get its desired results one way or another, and it would've gotten it faster had Yui, Azusa and her didn't show up at the Tainaka residence every day.

_If Mio-chan and Ricchan were left there by themselves for the past two days, they would've been living happily ever after by now…_

Mugi headed to the direction of the intersection where she and her friends always met before school and parted ways after. She was scheduled to meet Azusa and Yui there and then they were to head to Ritsu's and surprise their two probably-still-sleeping friends with their 'solution' to Ritsu's condition. Mugi felt bad that they had to go about it this way; she didn't want to bother her friends, really, but the plan must go smoothly! And for it to go smoothly, she needs Mio and Ritsu as cranky as possible. Mugi rounded a corner and was pleased to see that her co-conspirators were perfectly on time.

"Oh! Mugi-chan, over here!" Yui waved too energetically for someone who had little sleep the night before.

"Mugi-senpai, good morning." Azusa had bags under her eyes and ler lids were drooping. The junior wasn't exactly a morning person and she wouldn't have come here at this ungodly hour if every tiny detail of the plan wasn't vital to its success.

Mugi returned both greetings with an elegant wave, a warm smile and a soft 'good morning.' She cast a sympathetic look at Azusa, knowing that the junior didn't like waking up too early and a knowing glance at Yui who was also supposedly not a morning person but was hyper like she just drank a liter and a half of Mountain Dew and swallowed a box of Oreos. Well, Yui didn't do anything like that, not even close; but what the airhead did had the same effect on her. Yui had just simply given herself an extremely long Azunyan-recharge hug. And it seemed that lady luck was on the short-haired girl's side because the junior was just too sleepy to push her off and didn't even attempt to. Mugi figured the entire scenario out just by looking at the both of them. Really, her friends should know how much she loves these kinds of things and should up their attempts at trying to conceal it.

The blonde mentally reprimanded herself for not being there extra early. If she had been, she would have caught the moment on her camcorder. But there was nothing more she could do, seeing as the moment has passed and occurred while she was on the train or while she walked, so she just swore to herself that she's catch it on video the next time. This didn't entirely make up for the feeling of loss in the bottom of her heart. _Oh, the glorious footage I would have had…_

"Mugi-senpai, are those all we would need?" Azusa pointed to the rolls tucked under both arms and was amazed that the blonde could carry all of them.

"Mhmm." Mugi nodded. "They're all here, local and foreign." She gave her junior a wink and her two companions shared an amused look. Yui giggled. Azusa hoped that their plan would work.

"Shall we go?"

They walked the last few blocks to the house together. Once they reached the front door, posed in front of the doorbell, index finger up in the air and ready to jam it to wake up their two friends. The airhead looked to the blonde for her cue and Mugi nodded.

Dingdong dingdong ding—

The first step to their scheme was cut short by Ritsu's brother, Satoshi who opened the door immediately. He poked his head out, and it took a moment before he realized who the three girls in front of him were.

Satoshi's eyes were a little glazed over and he had ugly dark circles under her eyes. He had been up all night, playing his favorite war and strategy games on his beloved Xbox. Ever since his sister turned into some kind of wolf person he could never stay in the living room during the day because she would always bully him or scare him away so the only time he could play was at night, when his sister and her best friend were asleep. Before the transformation, his sister didn't scare him at all, but now she makes all of these growling noises and she has really sharp looking fangs that glint in the sunlight like it was winking at him. So he chose to keep his distance and avoid her as much as he can. He noticed that she was only hostile towards him whenever he tried to sit on the couch when she was on it also. _It's unfair how Mio-san gets to sit in our couch and I don't. I'm her brother. _He would always grumble when he plugs the game console in.

Satoshi let his sister's three friends in, not even bothering to ask why they were here so early. He just pointed them towards the stairs that led to his sister's room, as if they didn't already know, and went back to his position in front of the flat screen, picked up the controller, pressed resume and continued to fulfill his current mission.

Mugi turned to Azusa and Yui and told them that since the doorbell technique didn't work, they would have to do something else to wake the two best friends up. She told them to climb the stairs as noisily as they can and burst into the room. Azusa politely asked her senpai to give her one second and she turned around and pinched her cheek really hard to wake herself up. The junior turned back around, now more alert compared to her earlier self but not by much. Mugi nodded and took the stairs first.

Yui and Azusa didn't need to make much effort anymore, as Mugi's thunderous steps shook their world comically. Yui and Azusa held onto each other and looked at the blonde's ascending form with amazement mixed with a little terror. Mugi was literally an earthquake.

The blonde mastermind reached the top step and turned around expecting to see them right behind her. She was surprised to see that the two were only on the second step; Yui still had a foot on the first, and were quivering.

"Come on, hurry! We must get the plan moving as soon as we can!"

The two guitarists wordlessly nodded and climbed together, their steps in sync. Once they've reached the top, Mugi held up three fingers.

"Burst in, on the count of three."

Mugi folded one finger followed by the second, and then the third went down right after.

The door to Ritsu's room flew open and three blurs – a blonde one, a black one, and a brown one – jumped in to enter, their feet hitting the ground with a loud thud all at the same time.

"WAKEY WAKEY!"

"We know how to get Ritsu-senpai back to normal!"

"Good morning, lovebirds~!"

(Mugi just couldn't resist saying that after seeing Mio and Ritsu tangled in each other under the sheets.)

And then there was the high pitched surprised shriek that could only have come from Mio. The two who were just soundly sleeping in each other's arms under blankets a second earlier were now standing on the bed against the closed window and curtains; both girls' hairs were sticking out in all directions, breathing heavily with wide crazy eyes. Mio's thoughts went from 'they've come to kill us, we're gonna die!' to 'oh no they've even disguised as our friends…' to 'I'm dreaming, I'm dreaming.' Ritsu's thoughts were 'waaaaaaaah' and then 'wait, what?'

There was a beat of silence as the two girls who were roused rudely and unceremoniously from their sleep processed what they were seeing and caught their breaths. Then Mio let out a groan followed quiet question.

"_What the hell?"_

* * *

"Wait, what? Did I hear correctly?" Mio couldn't believe what her friend had just said.

They all gathered around the dining table this time instead. They had all just finished eating breakfast that was brought by Mugi of course. Yui almost wept out of sheer joy for having cake for breakfast. Ritsu wagged her tail and Mio had to wipe her drool multiple times. After finishing their cakes and sipping their tea, Mugi went straight to business, explaining her fake theory on what made Ritsu's spirit animal came out and how they can fix it so she could return to normal. So far everything was going according to plan. Mugi had to resist smiling smugly and Azusa and Yui have been trying valiantly to suppress their laughter at Mio and Ritsu's reactions.

See, Mugi has always known about Ritsu's feelings towards Mio and how the girl has been struggling with it for quite a long time now. Well, apparently, she just found out last night that everyone did. She still wished that she could have revealed this to Yui and Azusa. The wolf spirit must have decided that there was no other way for Ritsu to show her true feelings to Mio unless the spirit acts and Ritsu's wolf instincts take over her. Once a wolf has its eye on aprospective mate, they rarely give up on them after all.

One would expect someone with Ritsu's confidence to just boldly confess their love and pursue the person, but unfortunately, this isn't the case. Ritsu and Mio have been best friends since they were young and the two don't know how to be anything else but best friends. Ritsu was beyond terrified when she realized that she wanted more than friendship from Mio in their first year of high school. The drummer noticed that she had been staring at her friend's face, that she stole glances and her eyes lingered on Mio's curves. Ritsu was at a loss on what to do. She didn't want to lose Mio as a friend but she didn't think she could stay friends with Mio while she felt the way she did about the girl. For a while it seemed that just ignoring the feelings worked for her and she went on. But for some reason, on their third year the feelings have gotten stronger. All of her thoughts either involved Mio or related to Mio and everything she did she immediately thought of what Mio would think. The urge to confess her feelings got stronger and she felt suffocated whenever she was near her best friend. It got harder to walk to school with her, to play in a band with her, and even approaching her made Ritsu's chest tighten. So Ritsu did the one thing she thought was the safest solution to it all; she suppressed her feelings, she fought them. She found herself spacing out. She ate less and she became uninterested in almost everything. But of course she couldn't make this obvious to her best friend so she acted around Mio and everyone else and tried to stay the same.

Ritsu's actions were unhealthy and were poisoning her spirit and the wolf inside of her felt this. The wolf had no other choice. It couldn't let any of this go on and get worse, so with a little help with the strings of fate, it found a way to make Ritsu's inner wolf come out to keep the girl from causing herself any more harm. See, spirit animals just showed themselves in small ways so to actually take full control of their partner's body and take up the front of Ritsu's consciousness, the wolf spirit needed to come from the outside, and so was the role of the _okami_ illustration.

Mugi, of course, didn't figure the details and specifics out since she isn't psychic. Mugi just figured out enough for her to formulate the plan that would give Ritsu the extra nudge she needed. Well, Mugi's plan was actually more of a push, maybe even a shove. But oh well... The end would justify the means. So she put the plan into action. She didn't exactly lie to her friends by telling them that she knew the solution, it was just the solution itself that was a lie and the lie would actually solve the problem so the lie was a solution. Yui's head hurt when Mugi explained it last night and Azusa had to repeat that over and over in her head to get it.

Mugi told Mio and Ritsu that the wolf spirit showed itself because the drummer needed a stronger motivation for doing things and going about everyday life. Mugi told Mio that Ritsu needed an active love life and thus the solution would be getting Ritsu a boyfriend.

"Did you just say that Ritsu needed a boyfriend?" Mio's voice grew louder and her tone was a mixture of disbelieving and disapproving. Ritsu had the same reaction; the wolf girl leaned back with a shocked expression and started to shake her head wildly in opposition.

Yui and Azusa bit the inside of their cheeks to keep from bursting out in laughter at their friends' reactions. _Oh this was just gold…_

"Well, in Ricchan's state right now, I don't think we can make her go out on a date with a guy, so getting her a boyfriend isn't an option anymore and should be crossed out as a solution." Mugi wore a thoughtful expression on her face. She felt that her getting to act this part was making up for not getting her big reveal last night.

"So the next best thing would be…" Mugi dragged out the last syllable then paused, acting like she was choosing her next words carefully. Mio and Ritsu's heartbeats grew louder by the second and for a moment Ritsu was sure that her heart would be a louder bass drum than the one she had in her kit.

"How can you say this… Um, the next best thing would be getting Ricchan, um… _excited_." Mugi smiled and put one index finger up like she just had a normal idea and they were all just having a normal conversation and she didn't just make a euphemism.

"What do you mean by that?" Mio in fat, already had an idea on what her friend meant and wore a horrified expression, her face as red as Rudolf's nose.

"We have to get Ricchan aroused."

Mio's reaction to that sentence was too epic to be put into words.

Ritsu's heart couldn't take it all anymore and the poor wolf girl fainted.

* * *

Mugi unrolled the first poster she brought with her after finally convincing Ritsu that this was the only way. There was a moment earlier were she thought Ritsu was desperate enough to finally confess her feelings but then Ritsu agreed to go along with Mugi's plan.

Mio didn't know whether to laugh or yell 'really, this guy?' when she saw who the guy was on the first poster. Ritsu almost barfed but held a hand to her mouth.

It was Robert Pattinson in all of his shirtless and sparkling vampire glory.

Yui couldn't hold in the laughter anymore and was rolling on the floor. Azusa's shoulder's shook with soundless laughter and Mugi hid her face behind the poster and quickly let out a small laugh then composed herself.

"No?" Mugi asked but she already knew the answer of course.

They moved onto the next poster and from what they saw on the first one Mio was afraid to see who was next.

After seeing the next one Mio didn't even know what to think anymore. Mugi was true to her word that she both had the foreign and local celebrity men covered. The next poster was of Jun Matsumoto of the Japanese boy band Arashi. Ritsu's hormones didn't seem to be going active any time soon with the men Mugi brought with her and all was well and going according to plan.

The celebrities on the posters didn't seem to have any effect on Ritsu; some even repulsed her. There was a shirtless Channing Tatum, muscles bulging and angry. Keito Okamoto of Hey! Say! JUMP also made an appearance. And of course, since there was a shirtless Edward Cullen, it would only make sense for there to also be a shirtless Taylor Lautner on one of the posters. Ritsu thought that this experience might end up being counterproductive and prayed that the countless pictures of shirtless or trying-to-look-cool foreign and local celebrities don't break her.

There was a picture of Keita Tachibana, another Japanese singer that did nothing, not even impress Ritsu. Sure these men were good-looking but she felt nothing at all for them. Ritsu yawned and her tail lazily swished behind her, now bored out of her mind.

Mio though, on the other hand couldn't pay attention to Ritsu. The poor girl couldn't move on from Mugi's plan. _We have to get Ricchan aroused._ She was torn and didn't know what to feel or how to react. Part of her wanted to just laugh, while another part wanted to stop Mugi from showing more male celebrities. There was also a part of her that was wondering why she wasn't looking at the men on the posters. _Wouldn't it be the natural thing to do as a teenage girl? _Then there was part of her that kept telling her that if this is the way to get Ritsu back to normal then they should definitely do it. All of the voices in her head argued and she didn't know what to do.

And then Mugi unrolled a poster of Justin Bieber.

Ritsu's had enough. Justin Bieber was the last straw and decided that she wouldn't take anymore of this.

Ritsu jumped to her feet and in a flurry of motion, grabbed the poster from Mugi's hands and threw it to the floor. The wolf girl then growl out her frustration and kicked at the rolls of poster and stomped on them. She jumped up and down and squished and flattened the rolls, probably even ruining some. Ritsu wasn't satisfied yet and then proceeded to tear at the posters violently, grunting and growling all the while. There were times where she even bent down, bit and tore some with her sharp canine teeth. Everyone else was too shocked to move to stop her.

"Buchou's lost it, Mugi-chan!" Yui had her fingers in her hair, her voice alarmed and worried. Azusa hid behind the brown-haired girl, her cat senses telling her that Ritsu was one wild wolf right now and was probably dangerous. This was of course an exaggeration. Ritsu would never harm her friends. It doesn't keep the cat in Azusa from being terrified, though.

Mugi wondered for a second if they've gone a little too far, but then told herself that this was what they needed, for Ritsu to stop holding back and just explode and tell Mio her feelings. When Ritsu was satisfied at the mess and destruction she's caused she turned to Mio, adrenaline pumping in her veins giving her that huge boost of confidence and screw-it attitude that she's always needed. Then Mugi's plans proved to be effective.

Ritsu turned to face everyone else in the room but her eyes were on Mio – the one person in the world who can make her do things that are out of character, whose mere presence can make her feel so many emotions, who without even trying to, made her fight her nature to the point where she needed the interference of an ancient spirit. The wolf girl opened her mouth and with her eyes shut so tight, tried to push one word out.

"Mmm…. Mmrr… Rmm.."

Sweat covered Ritsu's brow and beads of it rolled down the side of her face down to her neck where the tendons bulged with the tension. Her ears and tail stood at attention. Her mouth felt like it was stuffed with cotton. But Ritsu fought hard and pushed. She would say it. She would say it now. Just one word… One word is all she needed. The person she loved. Her name.

"Mmmmrr… Mmmmiiirr… Mmmm… Mmmiihh—yo… Mmiioo."

_Mio._

Ritsu gasped for air. No one in the room moved an inch, everyone stood still with shock and, in Mugi's case, pride on their faces. It was Ritsu's first word since her transformation. The first thing Ritsu said and it could have been anything in the world; food, water, stupid, drums, music, hungry, and so many more that would fit her character, that would make sense as to why she would say this first. But of all of these this was what she chose to say, the name of the person who's pushed her and made her desperate and made her do incredibly stupid things.

Then again, if you think about it, saying Mio's name first— pushing it out with all she had despite being half a wolf and supposedly being unable to speak and only able to understand— made the most sense.

It was only her name, but Mio understood everything else that was unsaid.

_Mio. I only want Mio. No one else._

And little snippets of the past few months came crashing down on her— the slight change in Ritsu's actions, the different look in Ritsu's eyes, the empty jokes, the distant gaze, the spacing out; everything. Then Mio realized_ 'I'm the stupid one here. I've been blind to Ritsu's feelings.'_

"Ritsu…" Mio took a step forward closer to her best friend and reached out a hand. "Ritsu… Say that again."

Ritsu took a deep breath and tried to dry herself by shaking the sweat off. She would say it again. She could do it! Her diaphragm tightened and then she pushed it out with all the strength she could muster.

"Aaaaarrrrrwwwwwhhoooooooooo~"

Ritsu ended up howling instead of repeating Mio's name. The color drained out of Mio's entire being literally, that even her clothes turned to white like an uncolored character in a manga. Everyone who heard it would swear that it was the most bone-chilling thing they have ever heard in their lives. Even Mugi, who was the hardest to spook out of them all, wanted to hide behind the couch and curl up into a ball. Azusa's teeth chattered. Yui thought she would pee her pants.

The human Ritsu in the wolf girl's mind smacked its forehead as the wolf-girl put the tips of her fingers to her lips and looked sheepish. _Oops._

* * *

That night, after Mio brushed Ritsu's teeth and changed the wolf girl into her pajamas and finished her own nightly rituals, Mio sat on the bed and Ritsu did the same**. **Mio wanted to talk about what happened earlier in private, so waited until their friends left and most of the neighborhood was asleep and Satoshi was busy downstairs with his Xbox and games. Mio looked at Ritsu and stared deep into the wolf girl's golden eyes.

"Ritsu…" Mio took Ritsu's hands in hers and rested them on her lap. Ritsu tilted her head curiously and silently urged her best friend to go on.

"I know now, Ritsu. I know the reason why all of this happened. I know now what was bothering you before." Mio looked down, ashamed that she had been so blind and that her blindness must have been interpreted by her best friend as her being uninterested. "I'm sorry I didn't see it earlier."

Ritsu sensed Mio's sadness and couldn't bear seeing her best friend like that, so she thought of a way to assure her that everything was fine. Ritsu leaned in close. Mio felt Ritsu move closer to her and realized that her best friend was going to kiss her. Mio's eyes widened but then they slowly closed, her cheeks flushed and let Ritsu close the gap between them. Then she felt something moist and warm…

_On her nose…_ Mio's eyes flew open to see Ritsu licking her nose again. Ritsu leaned back and grinned at her. Mio chuckled. _How very Ritsu… _The wolf girl then yawned and Mio couldn't help but yawn also.

"C'mon, you… Time to sleep." Mio smiled at her best friend who was rubbing her eyes. Ritsu smiled back tiredly and nodded.

They both lied down, and just like the past nights, the two dreamlessly and peacefully slept with their arms around each other and bodies flushed against each other's, but this time it was Ritsu who tucked Mio's head under her chin.

* * *

The sun peeked through the window of Ritsu's room and Mio felt warmth on her eyelids as she slowly emerged from unconsciousness. She opened her eyes and was greeted with the sight of something she never expected to see. She couldn't help but smile.

Ritsu was awake, her bangs touched Mio's forehead and was smiled at her. Ritsu with her amber eyes was…

_Huh? Amber?_

"Good morning, Mio." Ritsu's lips moved and Mio watched it in slow motion as it hit her.

_Her best friend was back to normal._

Mio's hands flew from Ritsu's torso to her head and searched for the two wolf ears that were just there the night before. Mio touched nothing but Ritsu's silky strands. Suddenly, Mio sat up and started feeling around Ritsu's behind.

"Hey, what the hell?"

Ritsu jumped away from Mio with a crimson red face, labored breathing and a look saying 'are-you-crazy?' Mio's eyes started to water and she sniffed. Ritsu panicked, not sure why Mio was crying or how to get her to calm down.

"Hey, I didn't mean to—"

"You're back! You're back!" Mio tackled Ritsu off the bed and sobbed into her best friend's chest, not even sure why she was crying.

Ritsu hugged her back and just held her until her sobs faded and her breathing calmed. They were quiet for a moment, neither moving. It seemed that they were both just content to lie on the floor holding each other. Mio was the one to break the silence.

"Baka." Mio squeezed Ritsu and her voice came out muffled.

Ritsu chuckled. Another moment of comfortable silence passed by before Ritsu broke it this time.

"Hey Mio?" Ritsu twirled the long black strands of her best friend's hair with her fingers.

"Hmm?" was her best friend's lazy reply.

"Thank you…" Ritsu closed her eyes.

"For what?" Mio's eyes have been closed since she was crying

"For taking good care of me…" was the quiet answer.

"I've been taking care of you since we were kids and you just thank me, now?" Mio playfully slapped Ritsu's shoulder.

Ritsu chuckled again.

"Hey Mio?"

"Hmm?"

"I love you. I've loved you for a really long time."

"Baka."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"I love you too."

Then Mio pulled herself up and leveled her head with her best friend's, leaned in and ever so softly pressed her lips against Ritsu's.

If Ritsu still had a bushy tail, it would've been wagging like mad.

* * *

**The End.**

* * *

**AN**: Thoughts? Comments? Suggestions? Criticisms? Violent Reactions? _*points down*_ Review, review! :D

Hephaestus and Devon, this fic is for you guys~

**~pineappurus**


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